Chapter 11: Where There's A will, There's A Way
Flashbacks will be marked like this: *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* and
so on across
the page.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
evening...
Madison was in her room, reading, when the phone rang. "Hello?
This is
Madison." "MADISON!" the other person on the line
shrieked. Madison held
the phone away at first, confused, then laughed in surprise when
she
realized who was on the phone. "Sakura, is that you?"
"Yes, omigosh!
Madison, it's so fantastically amazing!" "What's so
great, Sakura?" "Li's
back in Japan! I met up with him in the park earlier today."
"Sakura,
that's totally great! So how are you guys?" Madison could
hear Sakura
sigh on the other end. "I told him I wanted to start our
relationship
over again, because he's been gone so long and everything."
"Oh, that's
too bad. Who knows? Maybe you guys will be better off starting
off like
that. Don't worry Sakura. Li really loves you. He won't let you
go again,
not if he can help it." Sakura paused. "Yeah, I guess
you're right." "No,
Sakura. You have to have faith in him if you want your new relationship
to have a chance to work." On the other end, Sakura smiled.
"Yeah, you
ARE right. I'll try to be more confident and less doubtful."
"That's the
spirit!" "Look, Madison, I have to go. I'll see you
in a week, okay?"
"Sure, Sakura! Bye!"
When they hung up, Madison looked at a picture of Li and Sakura
on her
desk. 'It's going to take a lot of work to repair the damage
done in they
relationship. I hope Sakura can take it.' Suddenly, Madison thought
of
something. 'Oh no! Li has brown hair... Melanie likes boys...
Li and
Sakura's relationship is on the rocky side right now...' Madison
sucked
in her breath. 'What if Melanie tries to take Li away?'
sakura's house...
"I'm so glad Li's back! And to think school starts in
a month!" Sakura
cried. She ran up the stairs to make a card. "Don't bother
me, Tori, I'm
really busy!" Sakura yelled to her brother. She ran into
her room, locked
the door, and then closed the blinds. Almost in a whisper, she
called out
her wand from her necklace charm. "Star of Clow, power of
magic, power of
light, surrender the wand, the force ignite! Release!" The
wand came out.
{a floating maiden in the air with a miniskirt on, sleeveless,
short
blouse, searching for someone} Sakura thought intently. "Find
Card,
create from Clow magic! Find Card, create!" She slammed
down her wand in
front of her, where she stopped it and a card was created, with
a maiden
in a miniskirt and a blouse short enough to see her stomach,
floating in
the air, wistfully searching for someone.
Sakura smiled. 'Another card, this way, I'll be able to find
someone
when they get lost. Really, this is for Li...'
Melanie was at the park, muttering. "Jeez, doesn't Sakura
have enough
pick of boys instead of picking the one guy I really like?"
She thought
of the image of Li. 'silky, brown hair, amber eyes, great body,
muscular..' "He's so handsome. I'll find a way to win his
heart yet. Oh,
I know!" She practiced Sakura's voice. "I'll get Li
somewhere, and then
I'll just win his heart over." She practiced some more.
a week later... sunup...
Sakura was with Li at the beach. Li was in his swimming trunks,
and
Sakura was wearing her beach bikini again. They weren't holding
hands,
for once.
"Sakura?" "Yeah?" "I know you think
that I'm such a liar, and I can't be
trusted, because I broke our promise." "I don't think
that!" "I know you
too well, Sakura. Admit it. That's the truth." Sakura hesitated.
"You're
right. I did think that a while ago. But at least you're here
now." She
turned her head to look at him. 'Li is so handsome...' Li looked
at her.
"You know, I didn't really want to stay in Hong Kong. I
was hoping that
while I come back here, my sisters could work for the money.
But my mom,
she was devastated that I could think to leave at the time I
was supposed
to. I'm sorry I didn't work faster, though." Sakura started
to cry. "No,
I had faith that you would come back eventually... just the fact...
that
I didn't know when you would really scared me... but when you
told me you
weren't coming back just yet, I was so angry that you broke our
promise..." Sakura didn't reach over to hug Li, she just
pulled in her
knees and put her arms on top and cried into her arms.
Li was really sad. 'We don't even have the close relationship
we used to
have before I left... it really is all my fault...' "Sakura..."
Li closed
the distance between them and hugged Sakura. He pulled her up
until they
were both standing, and Sakura kind of just 'put' her arms around
Li's
neck, still crying. Li was heartbroken. 'I can't stand it when
Sakura
cries... and this time, i made her cry again!' Li hugged her
closer to
him, wishing that their relationship could keep going the way
it used to
be. He kept his arms around her in a friend kind of way, but
he really
wanted to become Sakura's boyfriend again. So he let his arms
drop down
to her slim waist.
Sakura stopped crying a little, surprised. She looked at Li's
face. He
was looking at her with so much care, kindness, and love, Sakura
did wish
that her relationship and Li's were the same as before. Then,
a split
second later, she realized that was exactly what Li wanted, from
the way
he looked at her so expectantly. Then she stopped crying and
flung her
arms around Li's neck, hugging him close to her. "I missed
you so much,
Li..." Li sighed in relief. Sakura wanted the same thing
he did! "Don't
worry. I won't go away again, not if I can help it." Li
hesitated, then
kissed Sakura to show her he really really meant it this time.
Sakura
kissed Li back. 'Things will be back to normal in no time!' Li
and Sakura
thought blissfully at the same time.
Meilin was walking happily through the park in shorts and
a bikini top
that kind of looked like the top of a sleeveless blouse, except
without
the buttons. It went down to her belly button. She saw a couple
kissing
in the distance. 'Must be Li and Sakura... I hope their relationship
works out.' Meilin walked into the trees, imagining her wedding
with her
would-be husband. 'I don't know who my husband will be, but I
will know
when I get married. He'll be handsome..."
1st of august... 3 weeks before school starts... morning...
Melanie had finally perfected her 'Sakura voice'. "Okay,
maybe I didn't
PERFECT it, but close enough." Melanie had bought a hot
pink string
bikini to impress Li with. Melanie had grown out her hair to
her neck
like Sakura's. "Okay, I'm going to review my plan. First,
I'll call Li,
tell him to meet me at the local beach, to see if this bikini
looks good
on me. Then, when he gets there, I'll surprise him and jump on
him. I'll
bring my boom box and get him to dance with me. If I can keep
my face
away, then he won't notice I'm not Sakura. If I can even sneak
in a kiss,
then my mission is accomplished. I'll see if I can get him to
notice MY
body. Personally, I think Sakura is a bit on the chubby side.
Can't that
girl get thinner? If all goes according to plan, Li will think
I'm hotter
than Sakura, and he'll pick me to go out with. Ha, take that,
Sakura!"
Melanie picked up the phone.
"Hello?" Li answered. "Hello, Li?" "Hey.
Who is this?" 'Doesn't my voice
sound like Sakura?' "It's me, Sakura." "Oh, hey
Sakura. I could swear you
sounded like Melanie." 'Eek, he can't know that!' "No,
you were probably
mistaken." "So, what's up?" "I was wondering
if you would go to the local
beach with me. I want your opinion on this swimsuit I just bought."
"Why
don't you come to my house?" "I was thinking we could
swim a little at
the beach afterwards. I'm thinking of bringing my boom box so
we can
dance. You know, for old times' sake." 'Gosh', Melanie thought
excitedly,
'good thing I did that bit of research.' "Well, okay. Where
should I meet
you?" "Well, Li, there's this one part of the beach
that I just found
that no one goes to. Meet me there, okay? It's to the far left,
behind
this big rock blocking the path to the beach." "Okay,
See ya." Melanie
was so excited, she forgot to use her 'Sakura voice'. "Okay!
BYE!" She
hung up the phone, and ran to put on her bikini.
meanwhile...
Li didn't believe for a second that it was Sakura who had
just called
him. In fact, he had no opinion for Melanie. She wasn't the kind
of girl
Li would go out with. 'Just to teach her a lesson, though...'
Li dialed
Sakura and Madison's number. "Hey, Madison, hey Sakura."
"Oh hi, guys!"
"Same for the two of you!" Li started to talk. "Okay,
I just received a
call from Melanie, Sakura, and she was pretending to be you,
wanting my
opinion on her bikini. Of course, she didn't sound a thing like
you, so I
just listened on, you know, to see what she wanted. I have reason
to
believe that she's onto me." "So what can we do about
it?" Madison asked,
curious and intrigued. "Well, I have a plan..."
At the end of Li explaining his plan, Sakura reluctantly agreed.
"But
Melanie's my friend, Li..." "I know, but I want to
just tell her in a way
she won't forget." "Why can't you just not go along
with her plan? Just
tell her how you feel." Li shook his head. Madison intervened.
"Sakura...
remember what I told you..." Sakura hesitantly agreed again.
"Alright,
I'll agree to your plan." "Sakura, please don't be
mad. Just have faith
in me." "Okay. I have almost complete faith in you."
"Thanks, Sakura.
You're a girl who deserves only the best." Sakura smiled
happily. "The
fact is, the only one I really want is you, Li Syaoran."
Madison laughed.
"You're the only couple in the world who could actually
pull this off."
"We have to go, or Melanie's going to die from excitement."
"On the count
of three, we all say goodbye and hang up." "One, Two,
Three! Goodbye!"
Madison, Sakura, and Li shouted together. Madison held on for
a second,
then said I know you guys didn't hang up either, but I have to
go now!
Seeya!" Madison hung up. Li whispered into the phone. "I
love you, my
cherry blossom." Sakura closed her eyes blissfully and whispered
lightly
into the phone. "I love you too, little wolf."
at the beach, 10 minutes later...
Melanie stood up, wistfully, and looked out breezily towards
the ocean.
'If I want Li to admire me, I have to really get him to notice
me in
romantic ways.' Although Melanie thought that her hair was exactly
like
Sakura's, it didn't have the same shine that Sakura had. Then,
from the
corner of her eye, she saw Li coming in swimming trunks. 'Oh,
act natural
and romantic, Melanie!' she thought to herself. Melanie walked
towards
the water, putting her hand to her forehead, looking wistfully
toward the
horizon. Li walked to Melanie. "Hey Melanie. Have you seen
Sakura? I'm
supposed to meet her here. She was going to ask me on her opinion
on this
new swimsuit of hers. Nice bikini, by the way."
Melanie blinked once, then twice. 'Am I hearing things? He's
not looking
dreamily at me, and he doesn't seem to be interested. Oh well.
I'm going
to try harder.' Melanie walked over to him. "Doesn't it
look great on me?
All my friends seem to think so. The only person I haven't shown
is you,
and I REALLY want your opinion on it."
Li looked blankly at her. "It looks fine to me."
Melanie glared at him. 'This is NOT going the way I planned.
But I'll
make it that way. Argh!'
Suddenly, Melanie reached up around Li's neck, and kissed him,
pulling
herself up by the arms, and pulling herself tight to Li so that
he
couldn't push her away. 'Now Li can't get away! He'll realize
that I'm
the better just from this!'
But Li had already guessed what Melanie was going to do, and
he reached
up behind him, unlocked her arms, and dropped Melanie in the
sand. "Jeez,
what's your problem, Melanie? Can't you find a boyfriend to kiss,
and not
your friend's guy?"
Melanie's face fell. "You-you don't like me?" 'Why
doesn't he like me?
I've tried everything... except getting rid... that's it!'
Li raised his eyebrows. "No, I don't cheat on my girlfriend.
Maybe
that's something you ought to work on, Melanie."
Melanie made her famous, sad pouty face. "But Li... I really
like you.
And I know you like me too. I bet you're too nice to dump Sakura,
that's
all."
Just as Li was about to respond as cooly as possible, he heard
Sakura's
voice. 'They're back from shopping! I can't stand Melanie.' Li
turned
away from Melanie and smiled widely. "Hey Li! Hi Melanie!"
Sakura and
Madison were running through the sand. Madison was dressed in
short jean
shorts and a tank top, topped off with her hair in a ponytail
and with
sunglasses on. Sakura had on a swirly blue and green swimsuit
that was a
two-piece but looked like a one-piece and her hair clipped back
with
clips that looked like her necklace charm..
"Like it, Li? Madison and me bought this yesterday! She
said it looked
absolutely fantastic on me. But she always says that to whatever
I wear,
so I wanted your opinion. Mel's too." Sakura smiled coyly
and leaned on
Li's shoulder, crossing her legs. 'Jeez, Melanie, you need to
take
flirting lessons to beat that girl off. When does she not get
that Li
Syaoran is totally totally mine?' Melanie thought bitterly.
The four spent the rest of the day at that little section
of the beach,
swimming and cooling off and all that fun stuff you do at the
beach.
Soon, Melanie realized she had to go home. "Sorry guys,
but I have to
leave now. My parents are expecting me." Sakura was out
swimming, Li was
sound asleep after a hard day, and Madison was reading in the
sunlight,
so Melanie bent down and kissed Li on the lips as she leaned
down to get
her stuff. She left, thinking about her new plan to get Li to
become
hers.
first day of school...
"Hey Li! Madison! Chelsea! Kristin! Hey everybody!"
On her first day as
a high school senior, Sakura was very, very excited. 'Soon it's
going to
be time for the Homecoming Dance... yeah!' Sakura walked around
the
schoolyard, gossiping with her cheerleader friends and Meilin,
and waving
to her other friends. When she saw Li, she walked over. "Hey
Li! Isn't
this exciting? I'm finally a senior in high school!" Sakura
cried in pure
joy. She leaned over to whisper in Li's ear. "I made a new
card, the
faith card. It's this pretty maiden in a long wispy dress, her
hands
clasped in front of her heart, face glowing with happiness."
Li looked at
her. "Well, you don't need the faith card to look happy.
You look great.
Is that a new outfit?"
"Yeah, I picked it out." Madison said, walking over
to Sakura and Li.
"She really liked that emerald-colored skort (skirt and
shorts mixed
together), but she didn't have anything that matched it, so we
bought
that tank top," Madison pointed to Sakura's sapphire colored
spaghetti
strap tank top, "And a new jacket," Madison then touched
Sakura's jean
jacket that had little fake emeralds embedded into different
parts of it.
"Well, whatever Madison picked, you still look fantastic
to me." The bell
rang. "Oh, I have to get to class!" Madison and Sakura
went in one
direction, and Li walked in the other. Melanie, who followed
close
afterward, walked to her class, which was in Li's direction.
sakura & madison's homeroom...
"I can't believe we have Mr. Fenton for homeroom again."
Sakura told
Madison as they walked into the classroom.
"Well, at least we only have her for homeroom. If we had
her for
classes, that would be totally excruciating!"
One of the popular football players in the class, Mike (who by
the way,
has a serious liking for Sakura; actually, all the football players
do!),
sauntered over to Sakura's seat. "Hey Sakura. Why do we
always end up in
the same homeroom class?"
Sakura looked over at Mike. "Hi." she said, as cool
as possible. Some
other guys came over too. "Hey Sakura!" they all cried.
Sakura nodded,
exasperated, in return. Madison leaned over to whisper in her
ear. "This
is what happens when you are the most popular girl in high school!"
Just then, the bell rang for homeroom. "Everyone, get back
in your
seats!" the old teacher told them.
Sakura listened carefully to the morning announcements, when
suddenly,
she felt a great wrench on her heart that was totally painful
and brought
tears to her eyes. 'What's happening?' Sakura asked herself.
The bell
rang again. "Go to your first period classes now, kids!"
Mr. Fenton told
them. Sakura stood up, and almost fell over. She clenched her
fists.
"Madison." Sakura whispered. "What's wrong Sakura?"
Madison picked up her
backpack and steadied Sakura. "I don't know... we have to
find Li..."
meanwhile, in Li's homeroom...
The teacher droned on and on about the morning announcements.
Li
listened, bored to death. 'If only Madison and Sakura were in
my homeroom
too, instead of Melanie. Why, oh, why do all these things happen
to me?'
Earlier that morning, a whole bunch of girls flirted with him,
most of
them on the high school swimming team. Especially Melanie. Melanie
was
going to try out for the cheerleading team. 'So I can be as close
to
Sakura as possible' Melanie had thought.
When the bell rang, the teacher stood up. "Okay, kids, go
to your first
period classes now!" Everyone stood up. 'Something's not
right...' Li
thought, looking around the room. 'I have a bad feeling... about-what?'
after school... chearleading tryouts...
"Okay, girls. This is the first of three cheerleading
tryouts. The
cheerleaders from last year will perform their routines first!
Everyone
must have the basics in their routines or you will not be picked
to be on
the cheerleading team! There are going to be ten people plus
one runner
up on this team!" Ms. Jacobson called out. Ms. Jacobson
had been a
cheerleader in her high school years, so it was better for the
cheerleaders, knowing that the teacher wouldn't try some wacko
stunt on
them. "Sakura Avalon, you're up!" Madison held Sakura's
boom box and
Sakura walked to the middle of the blacktop. Music from Britney
Spears'
"Stronger" started (sorry, but that song is great for
dancing and
cheerleading!). Sakura performed flawlessly, doing all the required
moves, plus some extras.
'Stronger... than yesterday... it's nothin but my way...' Sakura
muttered under her breath. 'Stronger!' When the song ended, Sakura
jumped
up and did the splits, then landed perfectly, left leg slightly
in front
of her right, which was facing forward diagonally to the right,
her legs
straight, and stretched her arms above her head and looked at
the sky.
"Yeah, Sakura!" almost the whole crowd of people watching
shouted,
including Madison. Melanie was the only one who was unenthusiastic.
'Sakura's always showing off.' Melanie thought angrily as
Sakura sat
down on the bench next to the coach. As all the former cheerleaders
who
had been on the team last year tried out, it became apparent
that there
really was only 7 spots for newcomers, because 4 girls had been
on the
team last year. 'The competition is fierce, but I will guarantee
that I
am on the team!' Melanie thought.
ten minutes later...
"Hey dude, whatcha lookin at? All those cheerleader girls
tryin out for
the team?" Bryan teased. "One pretty girl ain't enough
for ya, eh?"
another guy asked teasingly. "SHUT UP, YOU GUYS!" Li
yelled. He turned
back to look at the tryouts. Scott sat down on the bleachers
next to him.
"Hey Li." "Hey Scott." 'No one trying out
is better than Sakura. Sakura
is the prettiest, most graceful one.' Li thought happily. 'AND
she's my
girlfriend!' "So how are you and Madison?" Li asked
Scott. Scott smiled.
"Madison's great. She's nice and sweet to everyone. You
and Sakura?" Li
smiled too. "Yeah. We're going out after tomorrow evening."
down at the tryouts...
Everyone had finished performing. Ms. Jacobson gathered them
together.
"Okay, everyone, this is the team: Sakura, Kristin, Mandy,
..." Ms.
Jacobson rattled off a few more names until the tenth person
and the
runner-up. "and ..." 'Oh, please pick me! Please pick
me!' Melanie
thought anxiously. "Melanie, and the runner up is Danielle."
The rest of
the girls groaned. "I'm sorry I couldn't pick everyone,
but some of you
can try out next year, so don't stop hoping!" Ms. Jacobson
sauntered off
the blacktop, and all the cheerleaders from last year's team
cheered.
"Another year on the team together!" Sakura cried joyously.
"AND there's
all these cool new cheerleaders too!" The girls who had
made the team
walked timidly over to the older ones. "Welcome to the group!
I bet this
year's team will be absolutely fantastic!" Kristin said.
later that night...
Sakura cringed in pain. The wrenching on her heart was hurting
more and
more. 'What's happening?' Sakura thought. She fell to her knees
on her
bed, her fists clenched against her heart. 'This hurts so much...'
Melanie looked at the clock. "It's eleven o'clock. Tomorrow,
if
everything goes according to plan, Sakura's poor little heart
will be so
hurt, emotionally and physically."
tomorrow...
Sakura rushed out of the school during lunch, running as fast
as her
long legs could carry her. She pulled off her backpack and tossed
it into
the gate as she ran out of the school grounds. Sakura rushed
towards the
park, her eyes blinded in tears. 'Why did he do it?! Does he
care about
me?'
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~*~*~*
As Sakura walked around the corner, she stopped. Li was hugging
Melanie
close to him, kissing her tenderly on the lips, his eyes closed.
Sakura
choked a sob, and Li looked up in surprise, letting Melanie go.
His eyes
widened when he realized Sakura was standing right in front of
him.
Sakura ran back the way she came, tears coming to her eyes. "Wait!
Sakura! Come back!" Li called to her. He started to run,
but he tripped
over Melanie's foot. "Sakura! I can explain!" he called
to her. "Sakura!"
Madison was walking towards Sakura. "Sakura? What's wrong?"
Sakura ran
past her, eager to get away.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
~*~*~*
'I... can't believe he kissed... Melanie!' Sakura thought
sadly. 'And to
think that I believed him when he said he loved me...' Sakura
started to
sob. She turned at the wrong opening, and arrived at a little
clearing.
Sakura slowed down. "Where am I?" She asked out loud.
Her heart wrenched
again. Sakura fell to her knees. 'I feel so weak...' Suddenly
a shadow
came over her. "Huh?" Sakura tried to stand up, but
she fell back on her
knees. The figure in front of her laughed. "So, Clow Mistress,
would you
like a rematch? Cause in this state, it looks like I'll win."
Sakura felt
like her heart had stopped when she heard the familiar voice.
She looked
up. "Matt?!"
"Correct, now let's fight!" Matt summoned his power
sword, and struck it
in Sakura direction. She moved aside. Using thought magic, Sakura
called
to her wand. "Clow cards, co---" Matt struck her wand
aside before she
could finish summoning her cards long-distance to her. "With
no Clow
Cards, Mistress, you lose this game." He struck her in the
heart just as
the wrench of pain seized her again. Li arrived at the scene
with Madison
and Melanie, as Sakura, holding her charm weakly, fell backwards
to the
ground. 'Well, this is where it ends...' Sakura thought. 'I have...
I
have failed. Goodbye everyone...' Her eyes slowly closed. Sakura
was
dimly aware that Li was yelling at Madison to get the police,
and she
looked in Matt's direction. He smiled triumphantly, and vanished
in a
cloud of dust. The wand returned to her charm.
at the hospital...
Li looked at Sakura from the window after her surgery. She
looked so...
serene and pale. The doctor came out. Tori, Mr. Avalon, Li, and
Madison
rushed to him for news. The doctor looked down, then up again.
"Chances
are she'll die. But we have to have faith in Sakura. There is
a slim
chance she'll live, and I know Sakura has the will to live. And
where
there's a will, there's a way." Li looked at a picture of
an angel on
Sakura's door. 'This is all my fault...' he thought miserably.
He blinked
back tears. Madison came over to him. "Remember, Li. Sakura
wouldn't give
up, and neither should you. We all have to have faith in her
and believe
that she will live." Madison grasped his wrist. Li looked
at Madison,
tears starting to fall. "Where there's a will, there's a
way."
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